


In the eyes of a broken hourglass

by MeRancholilt (SKanamiRye)



Series: Sand, Glass and Shards [3]
Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Angst, Asphyxiation, Character Death, Crying, Death, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Hurt, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Multi, Murder, Not Beta Read, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25801102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SKanamiRye/pseuds/MeRancholilt
Summary: MC was badly injured and quickly dying in Mammon's armsSpoilers for Lesson 16
Relationships: Main Character & Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) & Reader
Series: Sand, Glass and Shards [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839280
Kudos: 62





	In the eyes of a broken hourglass

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all, I'm back with another work for this little series. Yay. Tbh this work wasn't what I planned to write just yet, but writer's block got me hard and I had deadlines to work on other ideas as well so I had to change my schedule and all to keep up with the series.  
> This idea popped into my head while I was writing for the previous piece. Didn't really expect that this was so tough to write because there were a lot of things unclear in the lesson. Time travel, Lilith's power and I don't think I've heard a proper explanation for it. Idk I haven't been in the fandom that long so... But still, surely I'm not the only one questioning about the past MC sudden disappearance. And wow I had to take it upon myself and go full conspiracy mode for 2 days just digging through old lessons for hints and answers and working out a way to fill in the obvious missing pieces of the puzzle. And I'm definitely not too happy with this. While it was indeed kinda fun, it was frustrating to make this work  
> Oh and, the brothers were mentioned and had some dialogues, and there were some tiny hints between Mammoney and MC (just consider it like tiny crushes because idk how love works) so I put the tags up just in case.
> 
> English is my second language so expect some errors here and there, strange choices of phrasing sentences. Feel free to give me some feedback. I appreciate it a lot and it will help me improve in the future ^^  
> Hope you'll enjoy this <3

_Thump thump..._

  
  


"Haah… haah…"

  
  


_Thump thump…_

  
  


_Sniffs… sobs…_

  
  


"Please… please don't leave me…"

  
  


Breathless, you could only try to assure him with pleading eyes.

  
  


But it didn't work.

  
  


How did it come to this again?

  
  


Right. You were up on the attic. You were investigating the mystery of the identity of the third party whom released Belphegor from the room. For some reason, the door opened for you. In the midst of the confusion, you were both happy and skeptic of the whole situation.

  
  


But unfortunately for you, your cheery and naive self got the better of you.

  
  


Before you could truly process your doubt, Belphegor offered you a hug as thanks, and of course, like the idiot you were, you jumped right into it.

  
  


You probably should have thought better.

  
  


Almost immediately, Belphegor began crushing you in the hug. Frantically, you tried to pushed him away, but to no avail. You tried to assure yourself that he must have been too happy that he forgot his own strength. There was no way that he was…

  
  


All of your hope and self assurance shattered the moment you heard his dark, mocking laugh.

  
  


"Heheh… heheheh, AHAHAHAHAHA!"

  
  


"You humans really are foolish, idiotic, weak creatures, aren't you?"

  
  


"You're so stupid that I can't help but laugh. Don't blame me for tricking you, blame yourself for falling for it."

  
  


"If you die, the exchange program will be ruined, and Diavolo's reputation will be in tatters."

  
  


" **I hate** humans, you see. **I hate them more than anything in the three worlds**."

  
  


His grip grew tighter and tighter with each passing second. You couldn't breathe properly. You could have sworn you felt your ribs creaked as well. And it didn't take long for them to snapped and pierced your insides. It was painful, so terribly painful, but you couldn't yell. All the air in your lungs were gone and your scream died in your throat.

  
  


"Hehe...does it hurt? Finding it hard to breathe? I'm sure it must be **very** unpleasant."

  
  


"I have to say, seeing a human face twisted in pain like this…"

  
  


"...why, it's so much fun that I can barely stand it! I… I can't contain the laughter!"

  
  


"AHAHAHAHAHA!"

  
  


It was barely a few minutes until your whole body went limp. Your head felt heavy. Everything was going fuzzy. Your vision quickly darkened as the feeling of something warm seeping into your clothes and the taste of sickly sweet iron in your mouth were the last things your mind registered.

  
  


"..."

  
  


"...elp…"

  
  


"Help…"

  
  


"...Hey, wake up."

  
  


"...You can do this. I know you can find me."

  
  


"...Please…"

  
  


You opened your eyes.

  
  


You were no longer in the House of Lamentation, but a strange place. But before you could adjust to the surroundings, you spotted a figure, blurry and so bright that you had to cover your eyes.

  
  


"Who are you...?"

  
  


"You don't know, do you...? I'm sorry. I don't have the strength to maintain my physical form anymore."

  
  


"I've been waiting for so long, you see. I've been waiting for you to come find me…"

  
  


"My name is Lilith."

  
  


"Ever since becoming a soul, I've been watching over them, and in that time, I've forgotten how to get to the Celestial Realm."

  
  


"...Please, MC."

  
  


"I'll lend you my powers, so please, save them."

  
  


"You're the only one who can."

  
  


"Please…"

  
  


"But why me?"

  
  


"Why you? Because you're my…"

  
  


"...which is why…"

  
  


When you regained consciousness again, you were being thrown across the floor. Your blood painted a crimson streak in the the direction in which you slid across the marble ground. You winced quietly and weakly tried to lift your eyes up to look. Before you were the brothers, looking down at you with wide eyes.

  
  


It suddenly felt eerily silence.

  
  


Mammon was the first to recover from the shock, running to your side and cradling your body.

  
  


He looks like he was about to cry.

  
  


"MC! Hang in there, MC!"

  
  


"Ahahaha! Mammon, you look like such a fool!"

  
  


"A human's about to kick the bucket, and yet here you are panicking as if it's the end of the world!"

  
  


"Bephie, you…", Lucifer practically growled the words through gritted teeth.

  
  


"Belphie, what have you done?!", Beelzebub exclaimed, looking from you to his twin and back to you with a mix of horror and pain on his face.

  
  


"This is awful. What's going to happen to MC?!". Leviathan panicked, fumbling with his pockets looking for his phone to call an ambulance.

  
  


"MC is a human. With injuries this bad, the chances of survival are…", Satan tried to sound calm while analyzing the situation, but you could sense his voice wavered as he trail off.

  
  


"Lucifer, can't we do **something**?!". This time it was Asmodeus who spoke up, clutching at Lucifer and pleading with watery eyes.

  
  


"Gr…"

  
  


"Yes...yes! Perfect! That's exactly the look I was **hoping** to see on your face, Lucifer!"

  
  


"AHAHAHAHAHA!"

  
  


"MC, don't you die! MC…!"

  
  


Hot tears were rolling down on Mammon's cheeks now and onto your face. Weakly, you reach for one of his hand, gently rubbing circles into his palm and gave him a small smile.

  
  


"It's… okay, Mammon. Calm down. I'll be okay… Everything will be okay…"

  
  


Your voice was no more than a whisper, but Mammon caught every word crystal clear. Nothing was fine like you said. He could see the way your chest heaved with every pause and your half lidded eyes fluttered. A fear was bubbling in his guts, that once you closed your eyes, there was no going back.

  
  


"No! NO!", his yell startled everyone a bit, making your half lidded eyes flew open and stared at him. "Nothing is okay! You… you're dying! How can I still be calm with this?! I-"

  
  


"Mammon…", you said his name again, voice stern and demanding despite the breathless and quiet tone, and that was enough to shut him up.

  
  


How did come to this? Of course, it was the attic…

  
  


…

  
  


No…

  
  


Something seemed wrong…

  
  


Why were you up on the attic?

  
  


Weren't you with Lucifer? You were trying to win the game with him… right?

  
  


Then why did you remember being in the attic?

  
  


What…

  
  


What happened…?

  
  


Why is everyone here? Didn't they disappear?

  
  


Why were you in the attic?

  
  


Since when did you even walk out of the room to the attic? 

  
  


With all these questions flooding your brain, you almost missed a figured near the staircase.

  
  


That person looked…

  
  


...like you…!

  
  


No one else seemed to be paying any attention to this. They were either too focus on saving you or on glaring and arguing with Belphegor.

  
  


You looked to your side again, Mammon was still looking at you. His face scrunched up, his eyes red and on the brink of breaking out and crying again. His cheeks and nose were as red, evidences of dried tears glimmering a bit in the lights.

  
  


Then, you noticed he was squeezing your hand the whole time, unwilling to let go. His grip was firm, but not painful at all.

  
  


His hand felt so warm…

  
  


His whole body felt warm too…

  
  


It made you want to snuggle against him and take a nap, like you always do after a movie night or messing around on the couch after a day of trying out his schemes to get rich quick…

  
  


Right when you were about to close your eyes, a strong hand gripped your arm and shook you awake.

  
  


"Hey… no! No! Don't fall asleep on me like this!"

  
  


"Please, MC… not now…"

  
  


Mustering all the strength you had left in your body, you reached your other hand to cup his cheek, wiping away a stray tear and rubbed your thumb under his eyes.

  
  


"Hey… it's alright…"

  
  


"But-"

  
  


"Hush… it will be alright…"

  
  


That was all you could say. You didn't know what else to say to reassure him. You knew that you were quickly dying. There was no denying it. Surprisingly, you weren't as scared of it like you thought you would. You had thought that in your last moments, your survival instincts would kick in or something like that, but you felt nothing of the sort.

  
  


Ah, but you did feel _regret_. Of the choices you made? Of the life you chose? Not really. You hadn't had any fear for death for a long time. Your only regret was knowing you will leave the ones you love behind, torn and heartbroken. Their family was dysfunctional enough, and your death won't make anything better. If anything, it will make the cracks in their relationship continue to grow and turn into a pit that is forever unable to mend…

  
  


Speaking of cracks, you could felt the essence of your life leaving your body, like sand in an hourglass. You'd seen various comparison of a human life time and an hourglass before, but you never thought much about it. You never would've thought it would feel exactly the same.

  
  


And once the last sand hit the bottom, you're done for.

  
  


But there was a difference, this hourglass wasn't functioning like a normal one, it was slowly breaking, with its contents slowly spilling out.

  
  


Lifting your gaze to the staircase again, you met eyes with your doppelganger.

  
  


They looked guilty and sympathetic…

  
  


You might not know exactly what had happened, but it seemed like they had an idea.

  
  


Let's see if you could guess it right…

  
  


They are you, from the future? Or another alternate reality? Hah, it sounds crazy already. But nothing is really impossible in the world, is it? You're literally living in Hell, with the seven Avatars of Sin. And magic. It wouldn't be much of a surprise that they have some time travel spell at this point.

  
  


You stared straight into the other you, searching for an answer.

  
  


Judging from the look of guilt on their face, the one supposed to be lying here should've been _them_. But something happened too, and now you were in their place.

  
  


As if reading your mind, they gave a small nod.

  
  


_"How… unfortunate…"_ , you thought.

  
  


You were not sure how to feel about this. Angry because you're just some replacement a some grand scheme? Sad because you have to part with your dear housemates whom you've come to love and bond so soon. Regret that there's so much to do but now you've run out of time? And now you couldn't tell them how grateful you feel…

  
  


Oh… you haven't told them how you feel…

  
  


Well then, better now than never…

  
  


You opened your mouth to speak, hoping you were loud enough to get their attention, and instantly, a pang shot through your chest.

  
  


Right, how could you have forgotten about the wound in your lungs.

  
  


Well, that didn't work.

  
  


Turning your attention back to Mammon, he was full on sobbing now. Tears after tears rolling down his cheek and onto your face, but you were too numb to really notice it until then. 

  
  


He looked beautiful even when he cries.

  
  


However, now was not really the time for it. You reached for his face and wiping his tears again, but instead, he just sobbed harder, not looking at you. He wrapped his arms around your body protectively, as if you would disappear any second. And now he was crying into your chest.

  
  


You gently ran your hand through his hair in an attempt to sooth him, but unfortunately that didn't work as well.

  
  


"Hey… Mammon? Look at me… please?"

  
  


No response. He was still crying and babbling something under his breath.

  
  


"Mammon… please…"

  
  


That seemed to got through him, as you heard his sobs subsided a bit. After a long pause which felt like forever, he finally, slowly lift his head up to meet your gaze.

  
  


You grabbed his hand and brought it to your lips and pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles, then intertwined his fingers with yours.

  
  


"Hey, Mammon…"

  
  


"Y-Yeah...?", he choked out.

  
  


"Thank you… for everything. You've been taking care of me ever since the very first day I arrived to Devildom. You've always been there when I needed you the most. I'll always cherish the time we spent together."

  
  


After a short pause, you continued "Thank you, truly. I love you guys. So much. You meant everything to me. You guys are my family."

  
  


"H-Huh…? MC, what are you talking about? Don't say it like you're going to die. You… you're not dying. Not now, not ever." 

  
  


"No, Mammon.", you shook your head "It's too late anyway. I won't make it. But it'll be okay, because you guys have each other, and…"

  
  


You had no regret left now. You were broken far beyond repair. If your doppelganger was here to change the past, then they might as well take it up from here. They are you, after all, so things will turn out fine.

  
  


"What the…huh?! Over there, is that…?", Levi exclaimed, getting everyone to turn to him and followed the direction where he pointed at.

  
  


"MC?! Wait, what's going on?!"

  
  


*gasp*!

  
  


"There are two MCs…?"

  
  


"What…?"

  
  


"So then, the MC that Mammon's holding is…"

  
  


"Wh...wh-wh-what the…?!"

  
  


Strangely, you don't feel pain any more, as your whole body felt light as feather as it quickly turned transparent. At least this is convenient, because you don't have to endure your suffering until your very last breath. And they don't have to waste money on having a funeral and a gravestone be a literal monument to remind them of what happened today.

  
  


You flashed one last look at the other you, hoping they could see the request in your eyes, that they would take your place: _"Take care of everyone and keep them happy."_

  
  


With one last smile at Mammon, you breathe out your last words.

  
  


"See you around, darling… Farewell..." 

  
  


_Crack._

  
  


_Shatter._

**Author's Note:**

> Uh so, just in case you're a bit confused about how I worded this, here's some quick explanation: the two MCs switch there bodies (or minds) using Lilith's power. The past MC, which is now in the present MC's body, got their memories jumbled up a bit because their brain got updated with the new events. That's basically my logical answer/theory for the whole one MC was healed and standing while the other just go *bloop* and out of this plane of existence. I could go all out about my theories but I'd rather not to because time travelling is a huge confusing mess. I did had suspicions that it was Barbatos doing but the man basically told us to go explore ourselves and not give a damn. He might be lying but eh something tells me he was serious about leaving us alone.


End file.
